//------------------------------// // Ch 3.4 Choices and Consequences // Story: Our Girl Scootaloo 3 of 3 // by Cozy Mark IV //------------------------------// Our Girl Scootaloo Part 3 of 3 by Cozy Mark IV & Jan. McNeville Disclaimer: This is a non-profit fan-made work of prose. My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic is the property of Hasbro. Please support the official release Chapter Three point Four: Choices and Consequences Rainbow Dash's attempt to run down the helicopter was not going well, and despite giving it all her speed, the machine was growing more distant. The helicopter was a kind she had not seen before; it had the usual bright medical colors of red on white, but instead of a single set of blades with a side facing tail, this one had two disks on top, and the tail fan pointed back, pushing the machine forward at an incredible rate. 'This is nuts! Why can't I catch this flying machine?!' Rainbow thought to herself. 'Helicopter! And I don't know! Dad never let me chase these.' Dashie replied indignantly from inside her own head. Dash strained harder, but it seemed to make little difference, however she soon had another problem to deal with. She had been so fixated on the helicopter she didn't notice what was happening around her until it suddenly vanished from sight, its bright paint scheme disappearing into darkness. 'Whoa, where did it go?' She slackened her speed a little to look around and saw she was flying into a wall of shadow. Looking down she could see the sunlight that illuminated the city faded to black just outside of the last big cluster of houses. Beyond them she could see nothing but the dense black of night. 'Holy shit! What the hell is that!?' 'You’re asking me?! You're supposed to be the expert in this world! How can the day just end on a line like that??' Rainbow asked in alarm. 'I don't know! We have to stop!' Rainbow tried, but in a flash she had already whipped though the line and found herself coasting on though the cool darkness of night. Stars shone overhead, and the moon was a slim crescent halfway up the dome of the sky. As her eyes adjusted to the darkness, she looked around; everything seemed perfectly normal aside from the abrupt end of the daylight. 'Any ideas?' 'I told you, I've never seen anything like that before... The helicopter didn't seem to care though, so it must be normal here.' 'Yeah, well a lot of good that does us, I can't chase a flying machine in the dark if I can't see it.' 'You don't have to, genius. They turn on lights after dark; see those flashing lights in the distance? That's the helicopter.' 'Sweet, let’s go!' For whatever reason, she seemed to be having more luck now. The flashing lights and the distant roar of the machine were growing nearer, and several more sets of red, blue and orange flashing lights were coming into view on a road below. The new lights were coming from a group of... cars... that were clustered around another car in a ditch. 'What are those for?' 'It’s the police. Somebody must have run off the road.' 'You mean the royal guard?' One of Rainbow's eyes rolled as Dashie sighed. 'Yeah, something like that.' The helicopter had slowed to a stop and was hovering near the scene of the crash. As Rainbow closed the distance, she saw an orange pony with a purple mane jump from the side of the helicopter and land by the car in the ditch. The police had cleared a spot on the road for the machine to land, and after it touched down a team of medics jumped out with a stretcher and ran towards the car. … Scootaloo helped the team lift the man clear of the wrecked car and onto the stretcher, then stood back as the rest of them strapped him down for transport and carried him back to the waiting helicopter. A strangely familiar voice spoke from behind her. “Nice job, kid. I sure didn't expect to find you working as a doctor.” Scootaloo turned around to see who the arrogant jerk was who called her a kid and found herself staring at a blue pony who landed beside her with a flutter of wings. Her mouth hung slack for a moment before she managed to speak. “Rainbow Dash?!” “None other.” She answered with a smug grin. “It’s good to see you again kiddo. I've -OOF!” Scootaloo grabbed Rainbow in a fierce hug that actually lifted her off the ground for a moment. “Rainbow! Oh my God, I'm so happy to see you! I'm so glad you're okay! After that homeless guy got you we all thought you were a goner!” Rainbow returned her hug and put a hoof around her shoulder. “It's okay, nothing happened to me, I'm fine.” She felt a few drops run down her shoulder as she realized Scootaloo was crying. “Hey, it’s okay, really. I'm here and everything is going to be fine.” After a long moment Scootaloo pulled away and wiped her eyes with a sniffle, and for the first time, Rainbow realized she was working with hands; her hooves had never left the ground! “Whoa! What are those?” Scootaloo smiled though her tears. “That's right, you must have questions.” She produced a gauze pad and dried her eyes properly, but that joyful smile never left her face. “These are my prosthetic arms; I've had them since I was little.” Rainbow couldn't decide what to make of them. “But why do you need them?” “I'd flip that and ask how you get along without them?” Her grin took on a mischievous look as an idea occurred to her. “Here, catch!” Before Rainbow could say anything Scootaloo had fished her house keys out of a side pocket on her prosthetic and tossed them at her. Their arc ended abruptly as Rainbow grabbed them out of the air and held them with her right hoof. “Uh, like this. Duh.” Her keys appeared to be stuck to the bottom of Rainbow's hoof, and as Scootaloo watched in amazement they started to rotate on their own, just hovering without apparent support. “That is so amazing! How are you doing that?” “Doing what? Scoot, everypony can do this.” Scootaloo was peering intently at her keys; she couldn't see anything with her eyes, so she pulled down her goggles and switched over to infrared. She could see the keys were gradually warming, as from body heat, and as she looked more carefully, she saw an amorphous, slowly flowing, cloud about the end of Rainbow's hoof. “That looks a lot like the 'magic' the unicorns in the show use...” “What? Pegasi don't have magic silly.” Further conversation was interrupted by the sound of the helicopter getting ready to take off. “Oh crap! Come on Rainbow, we can talk more on the way back.” “I’m not getting on that thing!” - “Sweet! I get to ride in a helicopter!” Both statements seemed to come from the blue pony at the same time and in the same voice, leaving Scootaloo staring at her with a confused look. “Uh, are you sure you’re okay, Rainbow?” ‘I’m not getting on that crazy thing!’ ‘Dam it you cloud herding simpleton! It’s not going to hurt you!’ ‘Hey, who you calling a simpleton?!’ ‘The pony who’s afraid to fly in a machine, that’s who.’ Rainbow seemed to be looking off into space and twitching from time to time as her eyes slowly crossed. “Rainbow Dash!” “Huh?” “We have to go now! It’s not safe to be out here on your own, and I need to stay with my team! Come on!” Rainbow shook herself, nodded, and they both made a dash for the open door. Once inside, Scootaloo slid the door shut and said something Rainbow couldn’t hear over the roar of the machine. They lifted off and were soon racing back to the hospital as Scootaloo helped out with the patient diagnosis. After a few minutes Scootaloo finished her work and turned back to see Rainbow trying to drown out the din of the turbines with her hooves. Scootaloo had to shout over the noise. “Sorry. Put these on.” She handed rainbow a strange looking set of ear muffs, which cut the noise back to a minor background hum allowing her to think again. “Thanks!” She shook her head to clear it. “Where are we going?” Scootaloo reached over and put the microphone over Rainbow’s mouth and motioned for her to try again. This time when she spoke she could hear the sound of her own voice repeated though the headset. “I said, where are we going?” “We’re headed back to the hospital I’m working for. It won’t take long at these speeds.” Rainbow looked at the man on the stretcher. “Is he going to be okay?” “Yeah, he’s got a lot of superficial injuries, but nothing life threatening. It looks worse than it is.” She looked carefully at Rainbow. “What about you? You look okay, but what was that back there? It sounded like there were two of you.” “Um… Well, there kind of are…” Rainbow replied, her hoof nervously scratching the back of her head as she looked away. “Rainbow, what happened to you? Did that homeless guy do something to you? And how did you get here anyway?” The rest of the helicopter crew were now watching the exchange intently, all of them interested to hear the details. “Well…” Rainbow related the story as she knew it – the storm, being aged backwards, growing up on earth with a loving father, the rest of her friends coming to rescue her, and the heart-rending parting that followed. When the helicopter touched down it startled the entire crew who had been engrossed with Rainbow’s story, and with a final quick effort at drying their red eyes, they slid the door open and carried the patient into the hospital. For their part, the waiting hospital staff saw the whole team come through in tears and thought some kind of disaster must have happened on the call. After a few attempts at explanation, one of the paramedics who had recorded the exchange simply cut and sent the file to the nurse he was talking to. Scootaloo and Rainbow got out after the rest of the team and walked towards the ER doors, leaving only the co-pilot still on board. As she dried her eyes, Scootaloo asked the question that had been at the back of her mind for several minutes. “So where you lived, your father kept you hidden away? For your whole life?” “Well yeah… We had to. He said the world wouldn’t understand me, that they would…” She trailed off as she remembered who she was talking to. In a public place. Her face fell as for the first time she wondered about her father’s true motivations. She had walked several steps on before she noticed Scootaloo was no longer with her. Scootaloo was standing stock still, her mind reeling over the implications of what she had just heard. Rainbow had never stepped forward, had never done any medical work, she had been hidden away from the world. Her mind flashed back to her cheerleading days, the state competition and the team who had shaved their heads to be allowed to compete with their friend who was battling cancer… In rainbow’s world… ‘I wonder if her squad attended her funeral.’ She thought in a daze. The two of them still chatted from time to time, and the thought of her being buried by her mother and father at age sixteen… Scootaloo shuddered. She thought of the pile of letters from the cancer kids, the crayon drawing her dads still kept on the fridge; “Dear Ms Scootaloo thank you for save my life. I had cancer and was going to die but now Mommy says I can go home. I drew this picture of you playing in a field with angels.” In her mind the picture crumbled to dust and was replaced by a tombstone… with an angel of concrete. She thought of her own husband… Never meeting her… never going to school… being tucked into a satin lined coffin by his mother at an age when the tiny med alert bracelet still fit… She shook herself violently. ‘Not my world. It didn’t happen here, and they couldn’t have known.’ She forcibly pushed the speculation aside and dried her tears once more. For her part, Rainbow could see something was troubling Scootaloo from the look of horror and loss on her face as she stared into the distance at nothing. Before she could say anything, the orange pony seemed to come back to the present and pulled herself together, shaking herself and looking at rainbow with a forced smile. “So you have two different sets of memories? From growing up twice? That must be weird.” “You have no idea.” “Yeah, she doesn't even like the same flavors of ice-cream as I do!” Both Rainbows sounded similar, but a good ear could tell one was a bit more confident, and the other, a bit more sheltered and reserved. “No offense, but how do you manage to get anything done if you’re arguing with yourself like that?” “It’s not that bad, we grew up very different, but we’re still the same pony on important issues. Most of the time we think as one, and it feels more… normal, but this trip has been more of a strain then -” She paused as Scootaloo’s expressions took on a faraway look and she held up a hand. “Hang on, it’s David… Hi honey, you’ll never guess who I just met…” Her expression changed from delight to concern. “Slow down David, what’s wrong?... WHAT!!....” Her eyes widened as she stared into the distance and a look of panic crossed her features. “Did you call Agent Tyler?!... Hold on, I’m loading her location now…” Her expression worked through confusion, then on to anger. “Yes, I see her. She can’t fly at all, let alone this fast. Someone kidnapped her!... I think I might know.” She suddenly seemed to focus on the world around her, and looked accusingly at Rainbow. “Did you come here alone?” One of Rainbow had grown up with cell phones, and she knew what a phone conversation looked like, but Scootaloo had not produced anything that resembled a phone or ear-bud. In confusion she answered; “We all came as a group, just like we did to save me, but I haven’t seen any of the others since we got here…” Scootaloo’s face was set in a hard look as her eyes seemed to bore into Rainbow. “Did you come here to ‘rescue’ me as well?” “Well, yeah.” Rainbow replied uneasily. “What’s wrong with that?” “Let me guess, it was you, Applejack, Fluttershy, Pinky, Rarity, Twilight and Celestia just like when they came to get you, right?” Rainbow nodded as Scootaloo turned and galloped back to the helicopter. “Hey wait! What’s wrong?” “You got all that?... Good, I’ll bring her back, just let Tyler know what’s going on.” Scootaloo threw open the door of the helicopter and took the unoccupied front seat, her hands flying across the controls as the whine of the turbines grew to a roar and the rotors picked up speed. The Copilot looked across at her. “Scoot, you’re not rated for this bird – what the hell do you think you’re doing?” Rainbow had jumped on and stuck her head into the cockpit to hear what was going on. Scootaloo turned to her and barked. “Close that door!” Then she turned to the co-pilot and deadpanned in a tone of barely contained rage and fear: “Someone has kidnapped my daughter. I can track her, and I’m going to her now.” It was not a question. To his credit he just nodded and began running through the checklist while Rainbow stared at her in shock. “Oh my god! Who would –” Scootaloo whipped around to face her: “Get that door closed, now!” Rainbow stepped back and slid the door shut just in time to lose her footing and be pressed against the floor as the helicopter jumped into the sky, the turbines complaining under the strain. She managed to find the headset Scootaloo had given her and put it on to drown out the noise before making her way back to the cockpit as the helicopter lurched about and settled into a steep climb. Scootaloo had that far away look again. “Oh my God…” There were tears running down her face as she held the controls. “She’s crying!” The co-pilot swallowed hard, trying to look stoic, and suddenly the call Scootaloo was on with Sophie Belle was patched though the com system for all of them to hear. Rainbow could hear the sound of the child crying and calling out for her mother. Gradually a new sound entered the cockpit; almost too faint to hear at first but with growing strength Scootaloo was singing her favorite lullaby: “Somewhere, over the rainbow, way up high There's a land that I heard of once in a lullaby” “Somewhere, over the rainbow, skies are blue And the dreams that you dare to dream really do come true” “Someday I'll wish upon a star And wake up where the clouds are far behind me Where troubles melt like lemon drops Away above the chimney tops That's where you'll find me” Her daughter's crying gradually quieted as she continued to sing, tears streaming down her cheeks while her hands kept a steady grip on the controls. “Somewhere over the rainbow, bluebirds fly Birds fly over the rainbow Why then, oh why can't I?” “If happy little bluebirds fly Beyond the rainbow Why, oh why, can't I?” As Sophie Belle's sobbing quieted, the tiny voice called out: “Mommy, I'm scared!” “It's okay sweetie, I will be there soon.” She sniffed. “You promise?” “Yes Sophie, just be good and Mommy will be with you soon. I love you Sophie Belle.” “I love you too Mommy.” Rainbow gestured for attention and there was an audible click as the copilot muted the call. “Who would do something like this?! Are we going to chase them down?” “NO!” Scootaloo cried, the memory of her misadventure in the fog when she was still a foal suddenly fresh in her mind. “We have to come in on top of them; if they run I could lose my daughter!” The sound of the turbines changed in pitch and became much quieter as the rotors suddenly went from max lift to near zero lift and the floor seemed to drop away beneath them. “What the hell are you doing!” Rainbow yelled. “I can see Sophie Belle's location, and I'm going to drop this helicopter right on top of them as quietly as I can. We have four thousand feet to fall, and we're still doing a good one hundred and fifty knots. When we get close, I'm going to bring it into a hover and jump out. You got that?” Scootaloo's eyes were red from crying, but she spoke through gritted teeth. Her co-pilot just nodded agreement, while Scootaloo did something with the light controls then reached into her medical bag and came out with something Rainbow thought looked uncomfortably close to a weapon.